Last checked at 
* European shares open little changed
* STOXX 600 flat, FTSE 100 up 0.5%
* Tech leads losers, tracking U.S. peers
* Brexit, U.S. stimulus talks stall
* Asian equities eased from record highs
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THE YEAR THAT WAS: EV = EXTREME VALUATION? (1002 GMT)
The rush to buy shares of electric vehicle makers at any
cost this year has been compared to the frenzy for Internet
stocks in late 90s.
While Elon Musk envisages space tourism and humans landing
on Mars in the next few years, investors (punters rather?)
backing his most successful venture, Tesla, saw
skyrocketing returns this year.
"Tesla has risen some 800% since the fall of 2019 on the
back of 17% growth in vehicles sold," asset manager GMO points
out. Tesla's has a greater market cap than the sum of all the
other U.S. automakers, all the European automakers, and all the
Korean automakers.
It wasn't just Tesla, any company producing electric
vehicles or supplying parts, such as batteries saw their share
prices soar. Those stratospheric gains in EV names led to
valuations soaring to levels seen in some Internet stocks just
before the dotcom bubble burst.
Electric truckmaker Nikola, which hasn't sold a
single truck yet, was the other sensation. Less so recently
after GM cancelled its deal that involved an equity stake in the
startup and plans for building Nikola's Badger electric pickup
truck. Its market cap rose to as much as $30 billion.
Tesla rival Nio rose nearly 1,000%.
And among suppliers, investors getting high on hydrogen
names: Norway's Nel, Canada's Ballard and
Britain's ITM Power have all risen multifold. Hydrogen
could play a key role in the global push to produce carbon-free
energy.
"...in shades of 2000 there are some schools of thought
suggesting that everything 'EV' and green will keep spiralling
higher because ESG funds have to keep buying them," Mirabaud
tech analyst Neil Campling said in a recent note.
"It doesn’t actually feel like this ‘party’ is over yet and
we are not yet at the ‘exhaustion’ phase."
Indeed, Joe Biden winning U.S. election is seen further
helping the sector as he aims to focus on clean energy and
zero-emissions vehicles.
Oops... we forgot to share some stats on the extreme
valuations, Tesla's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio is
at 164.6, according to Refinitiv data. That's a far cry versus
Daimler's 10 times forward earnings and Toyota's 16 times.
"Tesla shares are in our view and by virtually every
conventional metric not only overvalued, but dramatically so,"
JPM recently said in a note.
(Thyagaraju Adinarayan)
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OPENING SNAPSHOT: WEAK TECH CAPS GAINS (0824 GMT)
European shares are off to a muted start with the tech
sector standing out as the biggest loser and capping gains for
the STOXX 600 following a hit to U.S. peers overnight.
The pan-European index was up less than 0.1% in
early deals as a new deadline in Brexit talks and no progress in
U.S. stimulus discussions suggested some caution, hours before
an ECB meeting which is widely expected to clear more stimulus.
Ocado's second earnings upgrade in two months
failed to impress with shares in the UK online supermarket down
4.6%. German meal-kit delivery firm Hellofresh however
rose to the top of the STOXX, up 5%, after it upped its outlook.
A broker downgrade hit Securitas, down 4%.
(Danilo Masoni)
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STOCK MARKET RALLY HITS PAUSE (0757 GMT)
Knife-edge Brexit talks dragging on (new deadline: Sunday)
and deadlocked U.S. discussions over a coronavirus aid package
are no good premise for stock market bulls. European and U.S.
equity futures are in the red, following pullbacks in Asia.
Some of that is also down to the hit U.S. tech suffered on
Wednesday, when Facebook was hit by lawsuits which could force
it to sell prized assets WhatsApp and Instagram. EV maker Tesla,
set to join the S&P 500 next week, also came under pressure
after JPMorgan's warning the firm was "dramatically" overvalued.
On the bright side, the European Central Bank is expected to
announce an enhanced and extended pandemic stimulus programme,
though that's already baked into markets. And a two-day EU
summit kicks off and will likely unblock a stalled 1.8
trillion-euro spending package.
Meanwhile IPO frenzy continues. Food delivery firm DoorDash
rose over 80% in its debut, valuing it at $71.3 billion, boding
well for home rental startup Airbnb, which makes its own
highly-anticipated market debut on Thursday. The year has
generally been a bonanza for IPOs.
(Danilo Masoni)
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MORNING CALL: EUROPE SEEN SLIGHTLY LOWER (0627 GMT)
European shares are set to open a touch lower this morning
amid no progress in Brexit and U.S. fiscal stimulus talks.
After surging back to February highs in the previous
session, EuroSTOXX50 futures are now a touch in the red, down
0.25%, while FTSE 100 futures are off 0.1%.
Over in Asia, shares fell from a record high, while Wall
Street ended lower overnight with a drop in Facebook shares
providing an additional drag.
(Danilo Masoni)
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